The Importance of Prevention in Tackling Desertification: An Approach to Anticipate Risks of Degradation in Coastal Aquifers

Javier Ibáñez, Rolando Gartzia, Francisco Javier Alcalá and Jaime Martínez-Valderrama ()
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Javier Ibáñez: Departamento de Economía Agraria, Estadística y Gestión de Empresas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Rolando Gartzia: Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Católica de Murcia, 30107 Murcia, Spain
Francisco Javier Alcalá: Departamento de Desertificación y Geo-Ecología, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA–CSIC), 04120 Almería, Spain
Jaime Martínez-Valderrama: Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio “Ramón Margalef”, Universidad de Alicante, Carretera de San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Groundwater degradation is a major issue on an increasingly hot and thirsty planet. The problem is critical in drylands, where recharge rates are low and groundwater is the only reliable resource in a context of water scarcity and stress. Aquifer depletion and contamination is a process of desertification. Land Degradation Neutrality is regarded as the main initiative to tackle land degradation and desertification. It is embedded in target 15.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals and focused on preventing these dynamics. Within this framework, we present an approach to assess risks of degradation and desertification in coastal basins with aquifers threatened by seawater intrusion. The approach utilizes an integrated system dynamics model representing the main relationships between the aquifer and an intensively irrigated area (greenhouses) driven by short- and medium-term profitability. The study area is located in a semi-arid region in Southern Spain, the Gualchos stream basin, which contains the Castell de Ferro aquifer. We found that the risk of salinization of the aquifer is 73%, while there is a 70% risk that the system would increases its demand for surface water in the future, and the chance of doubling the current demand is almost 50%. If the current system of reservoirs in the area were not able to satisfy such an increase in demand because of climate change, the basin would be at a serious risk of desertification.

Keywords: seawater intrusion; holistic; early warning system; agricultural irrigation; LDN; Southern Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:1626-:d:922200

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